Queen Paola: Picture Thread Part Three

[james]

Queen Paola was really naturally stunning and I can't believe that she is 67. I don't see how she could have aged much better. Diana was always spoke of as a beauty but she couldn't compare to Paola, Maxima, Letizia, Mett-Marit, Madeline of Sweden or Princess Caroline. Diana was very good looking and very well groomed but that is different from being a real beauty as I think all of the aforementioned are.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

More photos of Paola

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

And some more...

 

[james]

Queen Paola looks very much like Sybil Sheppard the actress.

 

[sol_anglada]

Beautiful queen

Queen Paoola was and is a very beautiful queen. Belgium people must feel proud of her.

And some more...

 

[morgaine]

Here is a Picture of Paola and Albert from 6 February 1982, the Wedding of Marie Astrid of Luxemburg :

 

[morgaine]

...and here is a very natural Picture of Paola from the Year 2004 :

 

[sol_anglada]

Adorable

Queen Paola is an adorable queen.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

More photos of Paola through the years

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

last photo : with Margrethe and Henrik of Denmark

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Last photo : pregnant with her first child, Philippe.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

another one...

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Some more on Paola's background

Paola is the youngest daughter of prince Fulco Ruffo di Calabria (1884-1946) and Louisa Gazelli (1896-1989)

She had 6 sisters and brothers :

- Maria Cristina (1920-1988) who married Casimiro San Martino d'Agliè, marchese di Fontanetto con San Germano

- Laura (1921-1972) who married Bettino, barone Ricasoli Firidolfi

- Fabrizio (°1922), married to Luisa Cristina Carbajo

- Augusto (1925-1943)

- Giovanella (1927-1941)

- Antonello (°1930), married to Rosa Maria Mastrogiovanni Tasca

Paola was born in 1937.



The following are family photos of Paola in Rome, published at the time of her engagement to prince Albert of Belgium.

1. Paola and her mother

3. Paola and her mother

4. Paola and her sister Maria Cristina

7. Home of the princes Ruffo di Calabria in Rome, Jacopa Peri street 12, where Paola grew up.

10. The little boy in this photo is the son of Paola's sister Maria Cristina

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

From the same photoshoot

 

[Regina]

Cathérine Bergeyck, you are posting again those WONDERFUL pics of Paola that only you can find!
Thanks so much, Queen Paola was an adorable young princess, full of elegance and beauty.
She seemed to be very close to her mother, and they seemed a very close family., like all italian families.

 

[grecka]

Do you think Paola is happy? From what I've seen of her, she seems to me to be very much similar to Crown Prss Masako of Japan- a woman isolated from the rest of the world and in despair.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

Paola..........

 

[sol_anglada]

Thanks !!!!

Thanks for having posted this collection of good and nice pictures!!

Paola..........

 

[Hannelore]

all the following are from ACI

 

[Regina]

Paola as a Princess

(from ebay)

 

[Hannelore]

1&2 . at a X-mas party for children, 1967 (with Astrid)
3. with Yehudi Menuhin, concert for queen Elisabeth music foundation, 1967.
4. wedding Felipe of Spain, 2004.
5. with margrethe of denmark, at the music conservatory in Brussels, 1969.
6. in Gstaad,1969
7. reception at the Belgian embassy in Paris,1970.
8. with Harald of Norway and Irene of Greece, 1966.
9. the first official evening of Princess Paola, here with husband prince Albert, and actress Audrey Hepburn and husband Mel Ferrer at film gala in Brussels,1959
10.in 1961

 

[Regina]

Thanks for your pics, Hannelore, they are just amazing!

 

[Hannelore]

1&2. Joyeuse Entree / Blijde Intede in Liege / Luik, 1959.
3.visiting the mines
4. wedding of Nikolaus of Liechtenstein & Margaretha of Luxemburg
5&6. Jacques Brel and singer Dario Moreno congratulated by princess Paola of Belgium after premiere of the play "The man of La Mancha" in Brussels ,1968.
7. in 1971
8. 1969
9. 1966
10.Habib Bourguiba with his son behind him during official visit in Belgium here with the princess Paola of Belgium ,1966

 

[Hannelore]

Thanks for your pics, Hannelore, they are just amazing!

No problem Regina , thanks for yours too

 

[Hannelore]

1. Paola and her mother, princess Riffo Di Calabria, 1965.
2. with french singer Mireille Mathieu
3. queen Elisabeth foundaion : with David Oistrakh and Yehudi Menuhin
4. she still smokes, but no longer in public.
5. in the 60-s
6. 1966
7. 1968
8. playing criquet with Astrid and Laurent
9. in Lissewege (West-Flanders), 1966
10. literary prize Femina for Leonid Moguy, 1962

 

[sol_anglada]

Good pics

Thanks Hannelore for having posted this exraordinary pics of Queen Paola when she was Princess.


Sol

 

[Emily]

Do you think Paola is happy? From what I've seen of her, she seems to me to be very much similar to Crown Prss Masako of Japan- a woman isolated from the rest of the world and in despair.

I am interested in this comment and wonder if Catherine or Hannelore can address it? I haven't had the sense that the Queen is isolated or in despair but I do sense something different about her than other queens. I have thought this for a while but haven't quite been able to put my finger on exactly what it is that makes her seem different to me -- perhaps she isn't as regal; she is more natural, taking life on her own terms and yet I very much admire the approach she takes. She seems very down to earth. Anyway, I'd love to hear what some of the Belgians think about her.

 

[delineate]

I think Princess Astrid looks a lot like her mother when she was younger.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

I am interested in this comment and wonder if Catherine or Hannelore can address it? I haven't had the sense that the Queen is isolated or in despair but I do sense something different about her than other queens. I have thought this for a while but haven't quite been able to put my finger on exactly what it is that makes her seem different to me -- perhaps she isn't as regal; she is more natural, taking life on her own terms and yet I very much admire the approach she takes. She seems very down to earth. Anyway, I'd love to hear what some of the Belgians think about her.

She is not at all isolated or desperate or whatever. I think she's quite happy. She's loved by her family and it warms my heart to see her and Albert together. Almost like a youn couple in love.

What my view on her is, is of course very personal.

As a young woman she was very glamourous, and apart from being a really devoted mother, she also enjoyed parties and fashion, but I think that intellectually it must have been a very empty life (but I also think she didn't mind).

After the wedding crisis, when they got back together (in the 80s) she seemed in a way more 'humble' IMO, thankful in a way too, not really towards anyone in particular, perhaps just to life (as strange as this may sound).

Since she's queen, my overall impression is also one of modesty. She knows she has defaults, and that she's far from perfect : her Dutch is awful (when she was younger she never bothered to learn it - which also says things about her attitude in the past). She's taken lots of lessons to improve her Dutch, but you notice how uncertain she feels about it when she talks and it makes her shy.

Paola does not have the determination and strength of caracter Fabiola has, she's not as smart and extravagant as queen Elisabeth or as spontaneous and open to the crowd as queen Astrid was, but she has her own qualities. What I like about her is that she doesn't pretend to know very much but rather asks for explanations, she's actually very kind but also has a shyness that people sometimes mistakingly take for arrogance. I also believe she enjoys being in normal situations with other people, without any fuss (I remember seeing her at the children's charity gala at Versailles, all the photographers started shouting her name and wanted to take pictures, in a bit of a shy way she waved her hand and turned away, sort of saying "I've already had all this in the past, this isn't for me anymore").

Her family seems to be the center of her life. I get the impression she's not as much involved in Belgium as other queens were before her (and undoubtedly Mathilde will be after her).

 

[Emily]

Thank you for your explanation, Catherine, and for taking the time, as always, to give such a complete and thoughtful response. Your sentence that she might be more "humble" after the marriage crisis and "thankful..toward life" is very insightful and has helped me understand what it is about her that I find different than other queens. Again, thanks.